Wind Sage in the Sands
by HiroJiyuNaka
Summary: Naruto, enraged about the counsel's choice to keep him from his birthright, leaves Konoha for Suna. An ancient spirit empowers him with the status of a Sage of Old, and he becomes the Kaze Segi no Suna. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 –

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR NOT GIVING ME THE NAME?"

Naruto Uzumaki was outraged. Here he was, 20 years old, savior of the world, current Toad Sannin, and jinchuriki of the strongest demon in existence, and the damned civilian counsel of Konoha wouldn't give him his rightful name of Namikaze, the Namikaze estate, or his father's scrolls, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it besides argue. AGAIN. They didn't know that he already had his father's scrolls, Jiraiya had given him copies of them just before he left to fight Pain and died, but that wasn't the point. The point was that they still felt they had the right to treat him as the Demon Brat. And why?

"How can we entrust such important things as the Namikaze title and all it entails to someone who can't even keep his promises?"

Now that was a low blow. A weak one, they had almost no argument there, but a low one nonetheless. He had fulfilled every promise he had ever made except one. Saskue. He hadn't brought Sasuke back yet. He and his Taka team were still out there, somewhere. Completely hidden and with no way to locate them, the search had been nearly completely called off.

"I'd like to see you even FIND the bastard, let alone bring him back without killing him. That damned ultimate doujutsu of his keeps any kind of paralyzing move well enough away that the only thing strong enough to get through are killing moves! Honestly, whose bright idea was it to explore so deep into that bloodline that they unlocked so many unstoppable powers?"

It was a completely valid point, and one that many on the Shinobi counsel had brought up at one point or another. But even without Danzo, the civilian counsel still held a lot of power, and not even the Hokage could overrule them, despite how much Tsunade was working to abolish them.

"Fine. Keep the estate, keep the name, keep the damned scrolls! Good luck getting me to bail your asses out when Tsunade kicks 'em through the wall with your release papers taped to 'em!" And with that, he left the counsel room, leaving every Clan Head on the Shinobi counsel glaring at the Civilian counsel. And a giggling Tsunade sitting at the head.

Naruto went back to his apartment and grabbed a couple kunai, some slips of seal paper, and a small yellow scroll. Leaving the house once again, he decides to head to his favorite training ground.

* * *

Naruto caught the kunai in his hand once again. At first when he tried to do this, he was a bit disoriented, and kept getting hit with his own kunai. He threw it again in a random direction and disappeared in a flash of orange before instantly reappearing in front of the still flying kunai and caught it again. Looking down at the kunai in his hand, an idea strikes him, suddenly.

Spinning the kunai around on his middle finger, he starts to form a **Rasengan** around it, until one of the currents of chakra aligns with the kunai, and it starts spinning freely from his finger. With something to grab onto, the ball of chakra is no longer being sustained by his hand. He can feel the power fading, though, and tries his next idea. Spinning on his heal, he aims at a tree, hurls his arm, and lets go.

The **Rasengan**, holding on to the kunai, leaves his hand, and barrels straight through a couple dozen trees before hitting a boulder and dissipating its already low amounts of chakra.

**Hirashin**ing over to the, surprisingly, intact kunai, he observed the damage. "**Rasengan Bullet**… Hey, that works! Let's see if I can get anything else new without going jinchuriki."

The next hour at training ground 20 was spent with many booms and vivid curses.

* * *

"Phew! Seven new variations with the **Rasengan**. Besides the **Kage Bunshin**, I think that jutsu is the most versatile I've ever seen."

Charging up a **Rasengan** in his right hand, he then furthers the shape manipulation to form a cocoon around his hand, which had since shifted to have his four fingers straight and together, his thumb tucked into his palm. Focusing, he furthers the shape manipulation even more until it forms a kind of chakra blade sprouting from his fingers, about 6 inches long.

"**Rasenblade**!" He yells as he swipes his hand in a diagonal through a tree, the **Rasenblade** acting like a thousand little chainsaws as the trunk of the tree is obliterated while being cut.

Standing back, he nods, satisfied. "Make that eight."

As Naruto practices some **Fuuton** jutsu, he unknowingly has a watcher. Temari, on an ambassadorial mission for her brother, had come in during his third experimentation. She had been about to leave when she saw him make a variant of the Hyuuga **Kaiten** with a **Rasengan**, and became thoroughly interested. She was even more surprised, when she saw he wasn't spinning, and that he had started running at the nearest boulder, grinding it into dust. When he made a **Rasengan**, and then closed his palm and crushed it, making tiny little **Rasengan**s escape and fire at the treeline, she had nearly jumped out and congratulated him on such a unique and unexpected move, but he had seemed less than impressed with himself.

Now, though, as he takes a break and sends 700 clones out to practice **Fuuton** jutsu, she walks up.

"Hey Naruto! Nice going with those moves. I had no idea the **Rasengan** could be used like that, or that you were so creative!"

"Hm? Oh, hey Temari! It's just a ball of chakra, it was really underdeveloped when the Yondaime created it. To tell you the truth, his blew up in his face like, half the time!" They both started laughing. By this point, it was well-known who Naruto's parents were. "Were you watching the whole time?"

"Yeah. Sorry if I shouldn't have, but it was an addictive session!"

"Addictive session? I don't get what you mean."

Temari scrunched up her face to come up with an explanation. Why did she say that, anyway? "Well… I guess it's like when you can't stop watching something, be it because you like it, or because it's so interesting. So what's with the training? I didn't think you would need to much anymore, what with that jinchuriki mode of yours."

"Well, I had been planning on getting in some training anyways, cause I don't want to rely on the Kyuubi's chakra too much. But to tell you the truth, I'm mostly working off some steam. I was pretty upset earlier."

"Well, sit down, tell me about it." Temari sits down and pats the ground next to her, smiling.

Sitting down, he looks at her oddly. "Are you okay? You seem… uncharacteristically interested."

"What, I can't be concerned for my friend? I.. I am your friend, aren't I?" Temari's expression suddenly drops.

Naruto sputters for a moment. "O-Of course you are! Don't ever think that! Gosh, Temari, I didn't think you were insecure."

Her posture changed almost instantly. "I am not insecure! It's only natural for me to be worried about losing one of my only friends!" Before she even realized that she had said anything, it had blurt out of her mouth.

"R-Really? Well, what about like Tenten, or Ino?"

Temari sighed. Seeing no way out of this, she continued. "Yeah, I hang out with them sometimes, but we never talk for real, like I have with you. Mostly it's just drunkenly deciding which boys are the hottest. But that's not what I wanted to talk about, we're here for you! Why were you upset?"

"The civilian counsel won't give me the Namikaze name or estate. They have been a thorn in Konoha's side for too long, but getting rid of them is a long process."

Temari nodded. "That's one of the things I hate here. In Suna, there is no civilian counsel to hold back progress."

Naruto laughed. "HAH! Think Gaara would let me live there?" He had meant it as a joke, but as he said it, he realized it had been a valid question, which Temari picked up on.

"Most definitely. You know how much he owes you. Wouldn't you miss Konoha, though? What about all of your friends?"

Naruto thought for a moment. "…I don't think it would matter. I'm obviously not wanted here, the simple fact that nobody on the shinobi counsel defended me proved that. The only person I'd absolutely have to talk to is Tsunade, and that's only to get released from Leaf duty."

"Okay, but what about your dream? I'm pretty sure you can't become Hokage in Suna."

Naruto smiled. "I've already fulfilled my dream. It was never really to be Hokage, that was just to get noticed. I really wanted to get strong enough, like strong enough to be Hokage, to protect my precious people. And I have, and did. But now that they're safe, they really don't pay me much mind, anymore. I guess nothing really changed."

Temari grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "That's not true! You have friends now, even if they aren't the ones you thought they were. Gaara, Kankuro, and I are your friends, always! That guy in Wave, Tazuna, and his family, they're your friends! That princess you helped in Snow, she's your friend! Remember, that little brat you had to take care of with Sakura, Lee, and Kakashi, he'll always be your friend! Killer Bee and the Raikage, they're your friends! The Mizukage and Tsuchikage are your friends, too! Even if the people here don't respect you, everyone you've ever helped does! Don't ever forget that."

Naruto sat there, stunned. This wasn't the kind of reaction he had been expecting. It seemed Temari had become more emotional over the years. Finally, he grinned. "Right. Thanks Temari-chan. I think I'll take you up on that offer, by the way. There's nothing more for me here."

Temari smiled. "Then let's go talk to Tsunade-sama."

Naruto got to his feet and helped Temari up, before they walked back to the Hokage tower, Naruto feeling better than he had in years.

Tsunade's day just kept getting worse. An accident at the apothecary's had stunk up a whole quarter of the village, a man with a broken cabbage cart had been complaining about the Konohamaru Corps, the meeting with the counsel had NOT gone well, and now she was out of sake. If just one more ounce of bad news came through those doors, she pitied the poor soul who had to deliver it.

"Tsunade-baa-chan! I've got something to ask of you. I want to leave Konoha." Naruto ducked and pulled Temari down as a chair sailed out of the office and barreled into the two ANBU guards stationed outside the door. "A simple 'no' would have worked…"

Tsunade calmed down just a bit. "Naruto. WHY do you want to leave Konoha?"

And so Naruto told Tsunade of his reasons, and about how no one would seem to really miss him.

Tsunade sat there on her desk for a while longer. "If you're serious about this, I suppose I could cancel your contract. But at least let me bring all of your friends to say goodbye!"

Naruto sighed. "If you really want to call them friends, then fine. I doubt anyone but Lee and maybe Shikamaru and Chouji would care for real, anyway."

Tsunade shook her head. As much as she wanted to argue, there was only one other person who might care, and that was for selfish and unrealistic reasons. She'd deal with that one personally.

"Although, I do have something I have to do before I go." Tsunade looked at the man in front of her, waiting for him to continue. "The Toad contract must stay in Konoha. Which means I need to find a successor. I just don't have that kind of time. I would ask Konohamaru, but he's already got a contract with the Monkeys. And I don't know anybody else worthy of holding it."

Tsunade nodded, that would be a problem. "I suppose I could just hold onto it until I find someone I think is good enough for it."

"You think the world will be okay with only one acting Sannin, who happens to be tied up in her own job as Hokage, as well?"

"Well, it's not like you ever did a good job as the Toad Sannin! You were supposed to keep up the info network, but without regular visits, our spy network has been slowly falling apart. The only thing keeping us from being blind in the world is regular C-rank missions to make contact with our spies. No matter, this isn't the time for that conversation. Summon the toad contract, and erase your name, I guess. This has never been done before."

Naruto stood and formed a few handsigns, before muttering "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu** **(Summoning Jutsu)**" and a poof of smoke appeared, revealing the Toad summoning contract, with Pa toad sitting on top of it.

"Hey brat. Whatchya need me for?"

Naruto smiled sadly at the elder. "Sorry Pa-sensei. But I need to ask a favor."

"And what's that?"

He looked at the toad seriously. "I need to cancel my contract with the toads."

Pa's eyes went wide, he had never heard of such a thing. "W-What do you want to go and do a thing like that for?"

"I'm leaving Konoha. Plain and simple, the Toad contract must remain within its village. Please Pa, is there any way to do this?"

Pa looked from the jinchuriki to the Hokage, both had pleading looks laying over a serious face. He sighed. "Alright. If you're sure about this, I guess I can't argue. Open the scroll and prick your palm." Naruto did so. "Now place you hand over the print you made when you signed it." As Naruto set his hand against the paper, he marveled at how small his hands were back then. Pa made several handsigns and put his own webbed hand over Naruto's.

The name and handprint written in blood was suddenly sucked up into Naruto's cut hand, leaving behind a dull black imprint of his name and print. "There. It is done. But you're still a Sage, Naruto. Maybe not the Toad Sage, but a Sage nonetheless. You can harness Nature energy, and that will never leave you."

Naruto nodded. "I can live with that. I can be the Kaze Segi. The Wind Sage."

Tsunade nodded, approving of the new title. "Right. When will you be leaving?"

Temari spoke up. "Well, he can come to Suna with me, and I'm leaving in a week."

"Sounds good to me. Pa toad-sama. We, unfortunately, do not have a proper candidate for the Toad contract. Is there a way for us to contact you if someone does come along?"

The elder thought for a moment. "Naruto will always be welcome in Mount Myoboku, but in the event he can't come, I suppose one of your summons could contact us there. Our realms are all interconnected, after all."

Tsunade nodded. "Very well. I hope the world will not have to wait too long for the Toads to come back. Farewell, Elder."

The wizened toad bowed and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, taking the scroll with him.

Naruto looked at Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama. I suppose we should get everything done as soon as possible."

Tsunade nodded and the last hours of the day was spent filling out forms for his release.

"FINALLY! All done. Now what?"

"Now, Naruto, we tell everyone." She made a hand motion and an ANBU materialized out of the corner. "Get me the rest of the Konoha 11 and their senseis." The ANBU nodded and **Shushin**ned out of the office. Tsunade looked at Naruto's confused face and said, "We stopped calling you all the Konoha 12 about a year ago, when the search was called off. Besides, Konoha 11 sounds cooler." Tsunade grinned as Naruto facefaulted.

Once everyone was in the room, Tsunade cleared her throat to call for quiet. "I'm not gonna beat around the bush here. Naruto is leaving Konoha to live in Suna." Immediately shouts were heard around the room, and the Hokage slammed her fist down on her desk, cracking the wood. "Enough! I for one, agree with this decision. He's not needed or wanted much. When was the last time any of you visited him on his birthday, the worst day of the year for him? No, you all went to the festival celebrating his father's sacrifice. Now, the forms are all filed, he is no longer a Konoha shinobi. Naruto, your headband, please."

Naruto stood from his seat by Temari and took off the hitai-ite on his forehead. He bowed and presented it to Tsunade.

Once she took it and set it in her desk, the Slug Sannin addressed the room once more. "Naruto has relinquished the Toad contract. His job as the Toad Sannin is over, and he has given up the title of Toad Sage. He is now the Wind Sage, and shall be addressed as such. He will be leaving in a week with Temari for Suna."

Sakura, who had been vibrating with rage since it began, finally exploded. "NARUTO! How can you do this to us? You made a promise, remember?"

"SAKURA!" Tsunade looked at her student disapprovingly. "We will discuss this later. I want no more outbursts from you."

Lee ran up to Naruto. "NARUTO-KUN! WE MUST SPAR BEFORE YOU LEAVE! WE SHALL SHOW THE VILLAGE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TWO GIANT FLAMES OF YOUTH COLLIDE!"

Once Naruto managed to calm him down with a promise to spar with him the next day, the crowd pretty much filed out, some wishing him luck in Suna, others shooting him hateful glances, all of which he took in stride.

"Well, I'm gonna go get some rest. OH! Hold on a sec." Naruto made the Ram sign for a moment before giving a full-body flinch. "GAH! T-T-Temari-chan… Did I make s-s-seven hundred Clones before we came here?" She nodded. "Oh. Yeah, I'm going down." And with that he fainted from the strain on his mind.

AN: AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This idea has been done before, but in an entirely different direction that where I'm taking it. next chapter is mostly written, i just need to get through this one fight scene. the format for my stories changes a lot, so don't be too surprised.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 –

Naruto awoke the next morning to the sound of running water. Lifting himself from the bed he was on, he looked over to the right where another, messier bed sat, a scroll and several sets of what he assumes to be clothes strewn about. To his left, he sees a door, and a short hall, down which is another door, both are closed.

The first one has just opened closely after the water stopped running. Out walked Temari clad only in a towel, her long, wet hair out of her usual tails and falling past her shoulder blades.

"OH! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it!" He closed his eyes and braced himself, waiting for the inevitable punch. It never came.

Instead, he felt the bed shift as Temari sat down on it. "What are you doing? I'm not gonna hit you, ya know." She giggled softly.

Naruto cracked one eye open, not daring to go any further for fear of a trick. "You're not?"

"Course not. Why would I hit you over something that was my fault?"

Naruto pondered this for a moment before opening his eyes. Though he still refused to look at her directly. "I guess so. Where am I, anyway?"

Temari got up and crossed the room to pick out some clothes for the day. "My hotel room. I use it every time I come to Konoha. Second bed's there cause sometimes Kankuro comes with me." Walking back to the bathroom with a bundle of clothes under her arm, she says over her shoulder. "Just a second."

Naruto sat there a while longer before Temari came out again. She had on an outfit similar to when she was a Genin, minus the steel mesh and plus a few extra pieces of cloth around her thighs. "You just gonna sit here all day, or what?"

Naruto smiled, and they spent the day together, reminiscing about the past, discussing the future. Eventually, a week passed, spattered with visits from friends, wishing him the best.

**HJN**

"Come on, Temari-chan! We need to leave today!" Naruto yelled into the bathroom where his traveling companion had yet to emerge.

"Al right, alright! Jeez, I'm coming!" Finally the door opened, her hair half-done in its usual style, she was currently trying to fix that as she gathered up her things.

**HJN*

Tsunade, Kakashi, Shikamaru and Ino were there waiting for them. Tsunade and Ino both rushed in, giving him a hug, and a bop on the head. Kakashi wished him well, though you could tell Tsunade had forced him to come. Shikamaru, however, handed him a box.

"What's this?" Shikamaru just gestured to it.

Naruto opened the black case, and gasped. Inside was a cookbook, and a scroll on Fuuton jutsu with a faded name scrawled on it.

"It was Asuma's. Both of them. I figured you would get more out of them than any of us, and we've got enough things to remember him by." Shikamaru shrugged passively.

Naruto walked up to him and pulled him into a giant bear hug. And it was giant, considering his impressive height. "Thank you, Shika."

Releasing the Jounin, Naruto looked at everyone before turning to leave.

"NARUTO-KUN! WAIT!"

Naruto whirled around to see Hinata, for the first time since the meeting in the Hokage's office, running after him, a large box under her arm. Once she reached him, huffing and puffing, she stopped to catch her breath for a moment.

"I wanted you... to have this." She held up the box under her arm.

Naruto took and opened it. Inside was a coat. A trench coat that was never meant to close, and reached his ankles, the sleeves short, ending just before his elbows. It was gold in color, with a grey wind design going along the bottom. On the back, there were his Uzumaki clan swirl, the Namikaze flame, and a Rasengan in a triangle. In the middle of the triangle was the number 9, embroidered in red stitching. The word Sage was written vertically just below the symbol in Japanese. He looked from the coat to Hinata, who was nervously shifting from foot to foot. Stepping forward, he embraced her, thanking her over and over.

"Y-you really like it?"

He let her go. "Of COURSE I like it! I shows everything I am!" Putting on the coat, he marveled at how well it fit, and flowed around him.

She smiled, relieved that it was okay.

Once more saying goodbye to everyone, he and Temari took the Shinobi Express and jumped through the trees, heading towards Suna.

**HJN**

Naruto and Temari walked onward through the desert, Suna was still nowhere in sight.

Temari looked up at the sky, then over at the distant mountains. "We should camp. Night falls fast here."

Nodding, Naruto took to setting up barriers with some defensive Wind Jutsu, as Temari set out a fire for the cold night.

**HJN**

Naruto jerked awake. Looking around, he could have sworn he felt a presence. He got out of bed and muscled his way through the barrier, his healing factor fixing up the cuts and lacerations as he went. The blonde Sage squinted his eyes against the foul wind that existed out here, and looked around once more.

Suddenly, in the corner of his eye, he saw a person. They disappeared the instant he turned, however. "Hello? Is somebody there?" He yelled into the night. He started walking in the direction he though he saw the figure. This was feat in itself, as it seems the wind was coming from the direction. So, he used a bit of chakra Nature manipulation, and ceased the wind around his person. "Gotta love being a ninja." Walking forward relatively unhindered, a dip in the sands brought him tumbling down the slope, only to hit his head on something hard. Rubbing the lump, he looked up to find a large stone pedestal. Naruto's eyes widened. Not at the pedestal, but at what appears to be a gold and grey spirit standing atop it.

Naruto swallowed. "Hello?"

The spirit smiled. "Hello. You are a Sage, yes?"

Naruto nodded at the woman. "Hai. Uzumaki Naruto, trained with the Toads, abandoned the title of Toad Sage when I left their contract in Konoha. I am now known as the Wind Sage. Might I know your name?"

The apparition giggled. "You are not the Wind Sage yet, my boy. My name is Alana, Mistress of the Winds."

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean I am not the Wind Sage yet, Alana? It says so on my coat!" He grinned, his playful side showing through once more.

Alana laughed again. "Fear not, Naruto. I have no doubt that you will pass my test." Seeing his fearful expression, she continued. "It is an easy test! A test of skill, rather than knowledge."

Naruto calmed down immediately. He hated tests, especially written ones. "Alright, what do you want to see, then?"

"Just copy me. I only want the result, any way you can make it is fine with me." With that, she swung her arm off to the side, an arc of wind blasting off into the distance.

Naruto smiled. That was the second Fuuton Jutsu he had learned. Forming a few handsigns, he faced the edge of the pit and shouted "Fuuton: Kuresento-fu surashu!** (Wind style: Crescent Wind Slashes)**" Jumping up into the air, he started flipping and swinging his arms and legs at the ground. Concentrated wind flew off in arcs with each swipe, striking the sand with resounding booms.

Landing in front of Alana, he grinned, seeing her nodding in satisfaction. "Good. Try this one." Looking off to a partially exposed boulder, she quickly exhaled through the mouth, a small hole shooting right through the rock.

Naruto thought for a moment. Snapping his fingers, he started on some more handsigns. "Fuuton: Shinku Taiki Judan! **(Wind Style: Vacuum Air Bullet)**" The blonde ninja inhales deeply before shooting out a breathe of air. The wind shoots at the boulder, blasting a large hole into the side.

Alana smiles. "A little over-powered, but that's not entirely your fault." Raising her arm, a ball of wind appears in her hand. "How about this?"

Naruto observed the sphere for a moment. It reminded him of a Rasengan, though it looked a bit weaker, and harder to control. "Alright." Holding out his hand as though he were about to make a Rasengan, he swept his other hand over it again and again. He hadn't had to use this motion for over three years, but he figured he'd have to get this right on the first try. Instead of channeling charka, he poured pure Wind Nature into it. With a final swipe of his left hand, a sphere of wind was rolling around in place, hovering over his right palm.

Alana nodded. "Very good. Your control over wind is astonishing." Letting her wind dissipate, Naruto did the same. She smiled. "One last thing. Show me how you harness Nature chakra."

Naruto nodded. With no small amount of pleasure, he closed his eyes and started mixing in Nature chakra with his spiritual and physical energies. Opening his eyes, which had changed to have a horizontal pupil sitting in a yellow eye, with red liner above each eye.

The first thing he saw when he opened them was Alana. Rearing back to punch him. Faster than he could even block, let alone dodge, her fist made contact with his stomach, and he felt a kind of bubbling in his abdomen. Grunting, he picked himself up from the ground. "Owwww, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"

Alana smiled sadly. "Sorry, my boy. Title isn't everything. You were still the Toad Sage physically. But not anymore." Alana gestured to the side, and a whirl of wind kicked up the sand. The wind turned hot and melted the sand into a mirror.

Naruto looked into the glass at his eyes and gasped. The normal red liner over his eyes were now gold, and the whites of his eyes had returned, only to be mostly covered by a grey swirling wind pattern reaching from the outside corners of his eye to just past his normal pupils.

"Congratulations, Wind Sage Uzumaki Naruto."

"Why? Why are you doing all of this?"

Alana giggled. It was weird, her laugh sounded like wind chimes. "A while ago, there were many Sages. Mountain Sages, who specialized in Doton Jutsu. Island Sages, specializing in Suiton Jutsu. Eventually they all dwindled to just three or four Sages, identified by those who trained them. The Sages of old were true Sages, in complete equilibrium with both their element and Nature as a collective."

Naruto nodded. "I remember Pa toad telling me that Jiraiya was never a good Sage. He always needed help to regulate the amount of Nature energy flowing through him, and even then there was always too much in his system. But when I finished my training, he called me a true Sage, cause I was in perfect balance."

"He was right." Alana looked around. "You should return. Your friend will notice the lack of heat."

Naruto looked at her strangely. "..Heat?"

"Yes. You emit this warmth.. It's quite intoxicating, actually. Almost impossible to miss. Now go." And with that, Alana was gone, disappeared on the wind.

**HJN**

By the time Naruto made it back to camp, it was getting light out, and Temari had woken up. She didn't seem happy.

"Where the hell have you been? I wake up, freezing cold, you're gone, the sun is coming up, and- What the hell is up with your eyes?"

Naruto facepalmed, realizing he had forgotten to deactivate Sage Mode. He sighed. "You're not gonna believe me." He then sat down and proceeded to tell her of what happened. To her credit, she didn't laugh, or get skeptical through the entire story!

Finally he finished. "Alright." And with that, she got up and started covering up the signs of camp.

Naruto stared at her. "W...What? You believe me?"

Temari didn't even look around. "Of course. How could I be skeptic of that after everything that's ever happened to you? If something normal happened to you, like you went out for a stroll and got lost without anything else interesting going on, I'd think you were lying, but this? This IS normal, for you." Finishing up the packing, she finally turned to him with a smile. "So, shall we go?"

Naruto grinned. She had a point. "Yosh." And with that, they both set off towards Suna.

**HJN**

Gaara smiled. Actually smiled. He FINALLY got caught up in paperwork, and could finally relax. His sister would be due back any day now, and he was looking forward to hanging out with his siblings. So it's understandable that he let out an enormous amount of Killing Intent when his secretary came bustling in with a wheelbarrow of forms and papers.

Sighing, he got to work. Only for one of his ANBU to come bursting in through the front door. Highly irregular for an elite ninja. "What is it?" Gaara asked with mild interest.

"Kazekage-sama! Someone is headed right for us very fast! We can't even see them through the dust!"

Gaara quirked the space where his eyebrows should be. 'Sounds better than paperwork…' "I'm on my way."

Sand Shushinning to the top of the wall surrounding Suna, he looked on with the ninja around him at the steadily approaching dust cloud. Grinning like a maniac, he jumped down into the desert before him.

Up on the wall, the Suna nins watched as the Kazekage engaged the dust cloud in battle. For a moment, the dust settled to reveal a head of blonde spiky hair.

**HJN**

Down below, Naruto was laughing joyously. "Been a while since I felt this alive, Gaara!"

Gaara's smile never left his face. "I agree Naruto! I certainly missed these battles."

Naruto dodged another blast of sand that had sprung up from the desert around him. "Oh, battles, eh? You want a battle, I'll give you a battle!" He said before he jumped high, high, HIGH into the air, and flew through an enormous set of handsigns. "FUUTON: SHINTO NO KYOGI **(Wind Release: Concussion Arena)**!"

Blasts of wind exploded outward from random points in the air. More explosions occurred beneath the sand, scattering the particles into the air, and generally creating havoc.

While Gaara was frowning at the scattering of his ammunition, Naruto flew through another set of seals. "FUUTON KATON: MOERU NO KAZE IMOCHI **(Wind-Fire Release: Blazing Wind Blast)**!" Inhaling deeply, he opened wide and pretty much screamed at Gaara, hot wind spurting from his mouth. The sand particles in the air melted into hot glass and flew at Gaara, who was suddenly forced to use the sand from his gourd. Creating a strengthened version of his Ultimate Defense, he sat inside as the molten glass ripped into the outside.

Naruto grinned, this was exactly what he had been hoping for. He knew that Gaara hadn't bothered to create his sand eye, so he would have a clean shot at this. Summoning a Rasengan in his right hand, he charged at Gaara, his own Wind manipulation keeping him safe from the still-going attack.

"**RASENGAN!**" Slamming the orb into Gaara's shield, Naruto watched as sand flew everywhere, and the ball acted as a drill. As soon as he was through, he stopped the chakra, and focused Wind into the ball of sand.

"FUUTON: KIATSU GENKAI BASUTO **(Wind: Pressure Limit Burst)**!" And with that, the ball exploded.

But Gaara was ready for him. Naruto jumped back as a spear of sand tried to impale him.

As the dust cleared, Naruto laughed. "Wow, Gaara! How unlike you, getting up close and personal!" The reason for this comment was soon apparent to even the spectators. Gaara's right arm was completely encased in the yellow grains, forming a triangular spear.

Gaara smiled again. It seemed that he did that a lot when Naruto was around. Without a response, The redhead jumped at Naruto, who was forced to dodge.

"Heh. That's a pretty nice blade you've got! But I've got a better one! **RASENBLADE!**" Forming the chakra around and beyond his hand, he prepares to show off his new invention.

When a giant blast of wind cuts into the ground between them. A distinctly female voice rang out. "Can you two stop the pissing contest? I'd like to sleep in a real bed tonight, and I need to give Gaara my report."

Naruto and Gaara chuckled at Temari's comment on their spar. The Kazekage looked over at the Sage before him. "So, Naruto. Why are you here, anyway?"

AN: WOO! Always satisfying when you get more than one chapter of a story out. Hey, do you guys like how many OJ (original jutsu. Spread it around, I'm making it a new term) I'm putting in my stories? It's just too limiting to use the common canon ones. Orochimaru gave me the perfect catalyst for OJs. "With the number of positions the human hand can make, and when you factor in the fact that you can have as little as one handsign, and as many as you want, there are literally limitless possibilities for jutsu." Later, it's said that if you factor in seals, even more possibilities open up. Ja ne~


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